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jlf1961 -> RE: right wingers losing their memories? (1/9/2010 8:19:05 PM)
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I stand corrected, after researching what is known about Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, then finding the story from the day in question, I found out that the statement was, "current leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula are Yemenis who were former Guantanamo detainees released during the Bush Administration."
Researching current information of the group, I suspect the speaker was over stating the fact. There may be former detainees in leadership positions of the group, but Nasser al-Wuhayshi the current leader of the group escaped from a Yemeni prison in February 2006 along with 22 others. This is prior to the Yemeni detainees released during the Bush administration.
Part of that statement on CNN was "Detainees released during the Bush Administration have returned to the fight."
If true, then there were grounds to hold these men released over for trial.
Further, an interesting note, under the Geneva Conventions, quote:
Prisoners of War must be detained in a climate similar to the climate in which they were captured.
This would mean that the detainees from Iraq and Afghanistan should never have been sent to Gitmo, IF
they are, as declared by the Bush administration, enemy combatants.
For the record, According to the Geneva Conventions:
quote:
Article 4 defines prisoners of war to include:
* 4.1.1 Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict and members of militias of such armed forces
* 4.1.2 Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, provided that they fulfill all of the following conditions:
o that of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
o that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance (there are limited exceptions to this among countries who observe the 1977 Protocol I);
o that of carrying arms openly;
o that of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
* 4.1.3 Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power.
* 4.1.4 Civilians who have non-combat support roles with the military and who carry a valid identity card issued by the military they support.
* 4.1.5 Merchant marine and the crews of civil aircraft of the Parties to the conflict, who do not benefit by more favourable treatment under any other provisions of international law.
* 4.1.6 Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.
One of the primary laws and customs of war is that one does not purposely target noncombatants and civilians. This, as I said before, places terrorist into the category of International criminals, not combatants, nor do they operate openly.
With that said, and the fact that the Geneva conventions has provisions dealing with fair trials, I feel that terrorist should get a fair trial in a Federal Court, and upon conviction, be sentenced to death, not life in prison.
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